Thursday, April 23, 2009

MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS ON BUENOS AIRES

After having spent two weeks in this capital city, here are some miscellaneous thoughts:

1. Contrary to what you might think about South American cities, BA is not cheap. Other than transportation, flowers and beef (see #8), prices are pretty close to those back home in the US.

2. BA had a large Italian immigration back at the turn of the 20th Century. Therefore, there are as many pizza restaurants and pasta shops as there are in Rome - maybe even more.

3. Subway vendors and some street vendors have an interesting way of selling things. They walk around and hand out the product they are selling to potential customers. Five minutes later, they walk around again and hopefully collect the money for the product that they just handed out . If you don't want the product, you just hand it back.

4. Here in BA they have crosswalks that cars are suppose to stop at in order to let pedestrians cross - don't count on it.

5. People here drive on the right side of the road. But their subway system was built by the British so the trains run on the left side of the track.

6. Argentina, especially central and southern Argentina, had no real indigenous population before the explorers got here. That is the reason why BA looks like Europe and why the people look European.

7. While there is plenty of chocolate available here in BA, if you're used to fine quality chocolate, forget eating anything chocolate. Go for anything that is made with Dulce de Leche; when in Rome...

8. Argentina is known for their cattle. If you want to eat cheap, eat beef. Vegetarians will go hungry (and broke) in this town.

9. This is a late city. People shop late, eat late and go out for entertainment late. If you're a morning person, forget it. On the other hand, the subway stops running by 10:30 PM - go figure.

10. Here in Argentina, they have a female president and the Presidental Palace is pink. If Hillary Clinton had been elected, do you think the White House would become a Pink House?